Dave Peters presents a request regarding a future Dollar General store west of Atwood to the Kosciusko County Board of Zoning Appeals on Tuesday, Oct. 14. Seated, from left, are BZA Member Kevin McSherry, Chairman Lee Harmon, and Hearing Officer Randy Cox.

Text and Photos
By Liz Adkins
InkFreeNews

WARSAW — The Kosciusko County Board of Zoning Appeals approved a petition for a future Dollar General store near Atwood.

During a board meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 14, Dave Peters with Chandler & Associates attended the meeting to request a variance for the permittance of 35 parking spaces when ordinance requires 106 in a commercial district. The property is on the north side of Old Road 30, west of CR 800W, Atwood.

“Even at peak hour, usually only about 10 to 15 of those spaces are full at that time,” said Peters. “We feel that the 106 wouldn’t be possible for a plan of this size.”

Peters said Dollar General has about three or four different store prototypes, with all of them featuring the same amount of parking spaces. He told the board the store would only have one entrance, which would be located on the north side of Old Road 30, with a right turn lane to be installed on the north side of the roadway.

Auto Repair in Claypool

In other business, the board continued a request from Marcella Manns for an exception to allow a home-based auto repair business in an agricultural district. The property is located at 3019 W. Hill Lake Road, Claypool.

Plan Commission Director Matt Sandy said there had been issues with storage of vehicles in the right-of-way.

Manns told the board there had not been a lot of changes at the property within the last 30 days due to health issues. She said she was planning on moving to Connecticut at the end of the year, with Zach Wiesehan, the business’s owner, currently living at Manns’ residence.

Manns said there are two vehicles at the property that need to be towed, but that Wiesehan hasn’t had the chance to do so yet.

“I’ve been by probably half a dozen times,” said Sandy. “There have been different vehicles parked on the north side, the south side. At the last hearing, (Zach) had even indicated everything was out of the right-of-way. I went by that afternoon; they were still in the right-of-way.”

Austin Jones, who lives south of the property, said he hasn’t seen any improvements and has noticed multiple vehicles parked on either side of the road.

“(Zach) said it was only a Monday through Friday business, but doors are all open Saturdays and Sundays,” said Jones. “I haven’t seen any improvement, but there’s plenty of people on that property who could have moved stuff around.”

Manns said Jones doesn’t even live on her road and has “to make it a point to drive past there.”

“Nothing that goes on over there should concern him,” said Manns.

The board approved continuing Manns’ case to the Nov. 12 meeting, with the request that Wiesehan speak with Sandy about the issues prior to the meeting.

Residential Request With Settlement

In other business, the board approved a petition for a variance at 1929 Chapman Lake Drive, Warsaw, owned by Donald Dado. The variance would permit allowing a garage to remain 16 feet and nine inches from the right-of-way of the road, with the permit being issued at 27 feet. Aaron Miller, the building’s contractor, said the fault lay with his company and not the homeowner.

The board approved allowing the garage to stay as is but told Miller the board will file a $5,000 settlement against him.

The board also:

• Continued an exception requested by Lamar Bost for the purpose of allowing storage warehousing in an agricultural district, located on the west side of Old SR 15, south of CR 1300N, Milford, to the board’s November meeting.
• Continued petitions for an exception and variance for Isaac Miller at 2422 W. 1250N, Milford, to the November meeting. The exception is for the purpose of allowing a home-based construction business in an agricultural district, while the variance would permit allowing a 60-square-foot sign for the business.
• Continued petitions for an exception and variance for Aaron Schwartz at 7335 W. 850N, Etna Green. The exception is for the purpose of allowing an addition to an existing building, while the variance would permit the construction to an existing building used for business.
• Approved a variance for the construction of a residence addition at 91 EMS B1A Lane, Leesburg, owned by Leah and Kevin Kuruzar.
• Approved an exception and variance at 13189 N. Eastshore Drive, Syracuse, owned by Kurt and Beth Petry. This would be for allowing the construction of an oversized accessory building and the construction of residence additions.
• Approved a variance for the construction of a residence addition at 6691 E. Willow Ave., Syracuse, owned by John Herriman.
• Approved a variance for the construction of a new boathouse at 8313 E. Highland View Drive, Syracuse, owned by John Gallagher.
• Approved a variance which would permit allowing a second residence to remain in a pole barn, as well as the removal of a mobile home, at 1272 N. 650W, Warsaw. The property is owned by Jennifer and Phillip Waddle. The BZA gave the Waddles until Sept. 1, 2026, to remove the mobile home from the property.

Pictured is the property where a future Dollar General store will be built on Old Road 30, west of Atwood.